Anonymous Postings on Confession Pages, Secret, and Whisper
Describes Facebook and Twitter confession pages, as well as how apps like Secret and Whisper are being used – both for cyberbullying and to help teens cope. What many adults don’t understand, they freak out about. Especially as it relates to teens. I’m generalizing here, but you know what I mean – we really don’t […]
Anonymous Reporting for Bullying and Cyberbullying Incidents
Justin and I strongly believe in the value of anonymous reporting systems in schools. Based on our experiences working with students across the nation, we have found that they want to speak up and let adults know what is going on (both offline and online), but they are very nervous that it will end up […]
Smartphone Apps and Bullying
I’ve been chatting with Canadian cyberbullying educator and speaker Lissa Albert about various apps for cell phones and their potential for misuse, and it has been one fascinating conversation. As such, she volunteered to write up a summary for our blog – which really paints a comprehensive picture as to what is available out there […]
Bullying and Peer Violence Videos as Teaching Tools?
A colleague sent me an article detailing how pictures and videos of bullying and other forms of violence posted online – student on student, or student on teacher – can actually be used as a “teachable tool” and to “wake everyone up.” Parents can sit down with youth and watch them together, and convey lessons […]
Public schools, Facebook, and the FCC
Our colleague Mike Donlin and I have been talking out some issues related to public education and teen technology use. He has recently pointed out that there are certain points that the FCC would like schools to know as it relates to their intersection with and use of social networking sites. Specifically, schools need to […]
Facebook for Educators, and the issues we need to consider
I have been chatting with my colleague Nancy Willard from Embrace Civility in the Digital Age about Facebook in schools, and how they should and should not be used by educators. These are her recent thoughts with some of my input added…just to get some more discussion going on this issue. We both think that […]
Using Public Service Announcements To Prevent Cyberbullying
A fun and often-recommended activity to engage youth in considering the responsible use of technology and promoting that message across the student body (or beyond) involves the creation of Public Service Announcements (PSAs). These are creative and informative videos designed to bring attention to a problem relevant to a certain audience, and make a memorable […]
Tattling vs Telling
As we work with increasingly younger kids to educate them about the responsible use of technology, we find it extremely important to discuss how they should respond to being cyberbullied. Central to this conversation is covering the difference between “tattling” and “telling.” Perhaps you are extremely familiar with this distinction – but if not, read […]
Cyberbullying Rates Across the World, and the Role of Culture
UPDATE: See the cyberbullying research by country in our new interactive map and section of our site! Being Americans, we tend to focus a lot of attention on offline and online peer harassment here at home. It is interesting, though, to consider the cross-cultural research that has been done on traditional bullying and think about […]
Bullying and Cyberbullying Pledges in the School and Community
I’ve been seeing a lot of “cyberbullying pledges” surfacing in recent months. Obviously, the intention is good – to enlist and rally the support of youth who belong to a school or another organization to end (or at least reduce) the problem of peer harassment. I think that it is important for us to think […]
